A Little Bit of Southern Comfort
by JustDazzleMe
Summary: After some life-changing events, Bella moves down South looking for a fresh start. What she finds is something unexpected.
1. Chapter 1

"HEY YOU!" I hear a voice shout from across the bar. "Yeah…..**YOU**", he bellows again. The music in the bar is loud, but I (and pretty much everyone else in the place) can hear him. There is no mistaking that he is drunk and that he is yelling for me. I put on my best artificial smile and head over to his table. There are four guys crammed into the small, dark booth. The cigarette smoke is so thick, I can barely make out their faces, not that I am trying to really get a good look at any of them anyways.

"Need something gentlemen?" I ask as sweetly as I can muster. Working in this place, it is crucial to maintain a bubbly personality. This despite the fact that I do not possess a single "bubbly" personality trait in my entire body. I have, however, pretty much mastered the art of the fake smile.

As I approach the table, I have a gut feeling that this might not end well. The drunk guy who was doing the shouting is leaning on the outer edge of the booth. He is close to my age, I assume, probably a college guy. He grins a drunken smirk, leans towards me and says, "I need this right here!", as he reaches down and grabs a handful of my ass. I gasp and jump away from him as if he burned me. Completely caught off guard, I yelp and scream, "WHAT THE HELL?", as I rapidly try to move away from him. One of his buddies at the table begins laughing. The other two guys at his table both look perplexed. My throat begins to tighten and it's gradually becoming harder to breathe. Tears begin to burn in my eyes and I desperately try to hold them back. I hastily say a silent prayer and, just like that, it is answered. Suddenly, I hear a roar behind me. And the roar is stomping up closer and closer. College boy with the big mouth and roving hands is no longer smiling and his friend is no longer laughing. The color has now drained out of both of their faces, much to my relief. I recognize the growling and the stomping. I have heard these noises before. I know that I am protected.

"GET UP AND GET OUT!" Emmett snarls. "RIGHT FUCKING NOW!"

I turn to see my cousin, my VERY large, VERY angry cousin, glaring down at the college boys. Emmett's face is bright red and his jaw is clinched. He has a Louisville slugger propped over one shoulder. Not that he'll need the bat. Emmett is one of those guys that are just….well, HUGE. Broad shoulders, thick neck, arms as big around as my waist. To say that he's intimidating is an understatement. He gently pushes me behind him. I instantly feel safe.

"We…umm….we're outta beer…", drunk college boy stammers. "We just needed a….umm….refill…."

Emmett glares down at him. He is not in the mood for this guy's games. "You ain't gonna find any refills on beer by grabbing her ass! I don't have time for your bullshit. Get out of here. NOW!" Emmett booms, patting the bat in the palm of his hand making sure to get his point across.

The four guys gather their jackets and rush to leave. I stand behind Emmett and watch as they drop dollar bills on the table. The two quieter guys begin to cuss at their drunk friends.

Emmett turns towards me as the foursome exit. "You okay?" He asks, concerned. I shrug my shoulders and lean into his side. "I am fine. You'd think I'd be used to drunken fools, but…" I trail off. I'm embarrassed and Emmett knows this better than anyone else. He puts his arm over my shoulder, making me feel both secure and small all at once. "Quil….keep an eye on things for a minute, would you?" Emmett asks the bartender. Quil nods his head in his direction. Emmett walks me over to his office and gently closes the door.

"Bella…", he starts, "Your job is to wait tables, not be pawed by inebriated morons. This is my establishment. I make the rules and certain things are completely unacceptable."

I sense my face heating up because I had to have him swoop in and defend me. I hate that one little incident has almost set off a panic attack in me. I flop down in the chair nearest to me. Even just sitting here with Emmett, safe and sound, I feel like I am suffocating. He sits down, leans back and props his feet up on his desk. He is frustrated and I feel guilty. The guilt must be written across my face because his expression softens.

"Hun, you did nothing wrong", he says quietly. "It's not your fault and you can't beat yourself up over this."

I know that he is right. "I know, I know", I mumble. "It's just that I feel so defenseless already and when someone acts like an asshole like that guy did tonight, it is almost paralyzing." Once again, hot tears are blurring my vision, though this time I don't try to hold them back.

He shakes his head as he sees the tears falling down my face. Emmett growls and his anger flares back up. "You just let me find Jacob Black….I'm gonna beat his ass for what he did to you."

I shudder at the mention of that name. Jacob Black.


	2. Chapter 2

**EPOV**

As we make our way to the car, I am fuming. I had no intentions of getting involved in any drama this evening. All I had wanted to do was sit, relax and drink a few beers. That was the plan. But NO….now we are headed back to our apartment, which is the last place I wanted to be tonight. Mike Newton had to go and get all shit-faced and stupid and all touchy feely. I would probably have enjoyed watching the burly dude take a crack at the jackass with his bat. Would've served him right.

"Hey…I'm sorry, man," Mike whined, "she was cute and she was just a smilin' at me…" Mike continued to slur and mumble, as if he was trying to validate his behavior or something. Eric Yorkie, also three sheets in the wind, stumbled behind Mike, like the blind leading the blind. I quickly walked to the car, fighting the urge to punch both of them in the face. Jasper, also observing Mike's stupidity, simply shook his head and unlocked the car doors.

"Did y'all see the ass on that girl? Oh my God! She was…", Mike garbled. I rolled my eyes and clinched my fists.

"Shut up, Newton" Jasper said calmly. His face looked like it was made of stone.

Mike's eyes tried to focus on Jasper. "Huh? Did ya say something, Whitlock?" Mike asked, squaring off his shoulders.

I nearly laughed out loud. Mike thinking he stood a chance against Jasper. That was comical. Physically, Jasper is tall and thin, kind of lanky. He is usually really mellow, quiet and down-to-earth. He is just the kind of person you don't piss off because, well, you never know what he is really capable of. Mike, however, is about to push Jasper to his limits.

"I said," Jasper repeated, louder this time, "you need to SHUT. THE. FUCK. UP."

Mike looked dazed for a second and, for the first time this evening, used his better judgment. He just quit talking. Finally.

As we climb into the car, Jasper turns to face Mike and Eric. "Just so you know, if either of you puke in my car, I'm going to stuff a boot up your ass. Got it?" There was no comment made. They both knew that Jasper meant business when it came to his BMW.

I chuckled. Jasper's head whipped in my direction, his eyes narrowing. "What's so funny, Cullen?" He demanded. "Nothing, man. Not a thing." I replied, trying to keep a straight face. The idea of Jasper kicking the shit out of Mike or Eric had great appeal to me at the moment. I found this to be quite hysterical. However, I did manage to maintain my composure.

The drive home was fairly peaceful, given the intoxicated state of the back seat passengers. Thankfully, no one got sick and no more drama took place. When Jasper pulled up at Eric's apartment, Mike and Eric staggered out of the car onto the sidewalk.

"Tonight was the last night I will ever go anywhere with either of you," Jasper said to them. "You both need to grow the hell up. We aren't in high school anymore. Damn!"

Mike shrugged his shoulders. Eric swayed as he tried to turn toward the apartment. With that, Jasper gunned it and we were finally on our way home.

"Man, why do some guys have to act that way?" Jasper asked. "I mean, did Mike really think he was going to get somewhere with that girl acting the way he was?" Jasper gripped the steering wheel as we sped down the street.

I leaned against the seat of the car, thinking about the incident that caused us to get booted out of the bar. "I think he scared her pretty bad, though I don't know why. All he did was grab her ass", I answered, absentmindedly.

Jasper's nostrils flared. "He had no right to touch her at ALL", he hissed through clenched teeth. "She was our waitress, not some plaything for Mike." By the tone of his voice, I could tell that I had struck a nerve with him.

Turning to face him, I asked, "Why are you getting so damn defensive? You know her or something?"

Jasper didn't bother looking at me. He kept his focus on the road. I ran my hand through my hair, thinking of what I was going to say next.

"Did you see the look on her face? She was TERRIFIED!" He spat.

From I had seen from my poor vantage point at the table, it seemed like she was going to lose her shit right then and there. I figured she was going to haul off and knock Mike out, but I wasn't expecting her to be afraid of him.

"I noticed that she freaked out," I replied. "She probably would've slugged ol' dickhead in the face if the big guy would not have intervened."

Jasper was still pissed, I could tell by the way he continued speeding down the small streets. I had no idea why he was so damned mad, but I wanted to know. He really seemed genuinely concerned for this girl.

"Say," I started, "you know her or something? An ex-girlfriend maybe?"

As we turned into the parking lot, Jasper was shaking his head. "I don't know her… personally," he answered slowly. "I just know that look. You know….the one she wore after Mike molested her. I know THAT look." I had no idea where he was going with this, so I waited patiently for more information from him.

He continued, "I've seen that look before, Edward. I have seen it in my sister's eyes." My mouth fell open. And, something just clicked. I instantly regretted my comments from earlier in our conversation.

When I met Jasper three years ago, we were just seniors in high school. Shortly after we met, his sister, Rosalie, was attacked in her dorm while away at college. Jasper was sickened when he learned of the horrible, despicable things that were done to Rosalie. She became a shell of her former self. She did, however, return to school once Jasper graduated high school. They shared an apartment up until she graduated last year. Jasper was very sensitive to Rosalie's feelings. The nights we got together with the guys for poker or football games were never at Jasper's place. He didn't want drunken morons around his sister because she was fragile. Just like that girl at the bar tonight.

Once he had parked in his usual spot, Jasper turned the car off. I could feel the tension and, realizing my obliviousness to the situation earlier, I needed to clear the air.

"Do you really think that's why the waitress acted that way?" I asked solemnly.

Jasper sighed, "Yes, I really do. I also think that is why the big dude reacted so quickly. He was over there on Mike in, like, a nanosecond. He was protecting her like I would protect Rosalie."

While he spoke, I recalled the speed in which everything happened. Jasper was right. It was as if the big guy had been carefully watching her, to protect her if he needed to. When he saw what Mike was doing, he'd handled that shit. Immediately.

As we got out of the car, Jasper turned to me. "I think I am going to go apologize to the waitress tomorrow," he stated. "I don't want her to think that I am anything like that dumb ass Newton."

"Well, I guess we'll both be going over there to see her. I really feel shitty for not having knocked Mike out right then and there," I replied. "Just hope the big guy will let us in the bar."


End file.
